Warning Shot

A solid beginning book in the Border Fire trilogy. Bolan is part of the protection team for the Mexican president, while trying to figure out if the man is clean or dirty. Some suspense thrown in, which I always like in the author's undercover roles for Bolan. Some Phoenix Force members also join the cast. Encizo and James have their own scenes in another part of Mexico, with some knife fights included as expected in a VanCook story. A good mix of storytelling and action, with a hint of the rest of PF as well as Able Team joining later in the trilogy. The creepy old lady in the prologue didn't get much development in this volume, maybe more on this will be in the next book. The chaos ramps up all over Mexico and some captures and escapes make things exciting through to the last pages.

Good start to this trilogy. Multiple storylines include Bolan acting as bodyguard to the Mexican president, fighting off assassination attempts, and trying to figure out if he's crooked or not. Rafe and Calvin James pursue Mexican bandits across the border, and an American businessman and his childhood friend, a mega-action star are taken hostage for ransom. The action scenes were just average, but the story was handled well. Looking forward to the next installment.

Terrific start to a trilogy and sets up beautifully for the next two books. At first I was starting to wonder about the huge amount of characters being introduced to the story but the author does a beautiful job of character description and it is pretty easy to slot the characters into the various sub plots introduced into the storyline. Speaking of sub plots there are heaps of them in this title but when reading the title you never seem to get the lost feeling of what is going on or having to flick back a few chapters to refresh your memory. Like everyone else who has reviewed this title I was extremely impressed with the knife fight scenes and it is good to read some of the minor characters have leading roles in the title. The book flows beautifully from start to end and I can't wait to get into the next two books as based on this title the trilogy is going to be a beauty. Highly recommended reading.

A good solid lead-in book for a Bolan trilogy! I liked the many & diverse characters introduced in this one. I also like the many sub-plots started. It will be interesting to see how they all get woven together in the next two books. The pacing in this book flowed very nicely & evenly.

Great book, nice to see two members of PF show up. Nelson was a great character. What I really loved was the the writer obviously did at least some knife combative training with James Keating of Walla Walla , Wash. The name of the Crossada knife and descriptive knife fights were well reseatched. THe Writer is obviously a knife combatives student. 8 outta 10

A solid 8. This is really a good start to what is shaping up to be a good trilogy. I didn't really like Rafe and James side story with them going after the bandits and the kidnapped woman. This seemed like a sidequest more then part of the main story. The knife fight was ever so predictable. Calvin's mastery with the knife and his fav knife is mentioned so much that you knew a big knife fight would ensue. I also was uncomfortable with referring to Demonnio as being well named because of the burns on his face. I don't know how good or bad Mexican presidental guards are so I am assuming VanCook knows what he is talking about. I did really like the Mexican captain who is becoming friends with Mack. Also I thought last names of PF people are not suppose to be said to non SM people but they seem most comfortable with letting the DEA know their names. I also like Nelson's character. Mack's storyline was the most interesting. I liked the action but also how this is shapping up to be a mystery. Is the president clean? Is his General the bearded one that goes to the witches house? Who is this witch? The Hix/Quartel story is good to. Not only is this semihumorous but it does show that there could be some "good" revolutionaries. Too often they are shown like the Marxist - kill, kill, kill and let god sort out the bodies - mentality. This Hilgera seems to be a honorable terrorist.

I found this to be a compelling read with a well-balanced storyline that combines real-life events and some far-out aspects. The action scenes were particularly well-handled and the plot was moved along at a good pace, with enough loose ends tied up by the end to make this satisfying as a stand-alone book while also whetting one's appetite for the next installment. Now I just have to track it down.

I must agree - this is shaping up to be a good trilogy. I thought the author did a masterful job of description in this one. Highlights were his description of the Witch's dwelling (you could almost smell the blood!) and the classic description of the seedy bar in Mexico that Bolan met the 2 Phoenix Commandos in. As was mentioned by someone else, I also liked the tunnel scene and the knife fight the most, but I found this to be a very good read. Rather than sticking to the main storyline, the author allowed the chracters to get sidetracked (the knife fight being the culmination of one of those sidetracks) - which I fully enjoyed. I did find it rather odd having 2 way-out-there seemingly-totally-unrelated storylines hanging separately though (the one with Hix and the Witch). I'm sure they will be tied in during the later books, but it seemed rather odd to read a whole book with these extra storylines then having that weak tie in during the epilogue. Though I found the epilogue to be a nice wrap up of the action so far. And that last line about the Executioner being alone as he always is, was great. If there was one disappointment, I think it had to be the end of the scene with the captive woman grabbing the gun and successfully disarming the bandit leader temporarily. That seemed kind of cheap after the action that preceded. I was waiting for the guys to come up some ingenious plan rather than relying on lady to get them out of the situation (didn't fit how her character had acted in previous scenes). I found myself saying "aww man!" as I read that one. Otherwise, though, I found this book to be top-notch.

I was hoping that Gold Eagle would do something special for Mack Bolan's 250th Executioner novel. After all, 250 is a landmark milestone in comics, let alone in novel series. I wasn't disappointed. Bolan and the Stony Man teams have to deal with a dynamic crisis in Mexico. Lots of intrigue. Some great fights, and a supporting cast which actually is worth reading about, as well as villains who come in all forms of levels, from a simple waiter to banditos and Mexican devil worshippers. That Calvin got a good spotlight appealed to me too, and despite not getting some knife time, Encizo wasn't exactly thumbing his ego. (Rather, he did a nice job thumbing a sixgun. :) ) I can hardly wait for the next two.

This one was OK for the first part of a trilogy. Calvin James' knife fight and Bolan's fight in the tunnel were the best parts of the book.

Just finished reading this and it appears that the Border Fire trilogy will be much more exciting than the recently completed Four Horseman trilogy. Good focus on Mexico and its political situation with Bolan right in the middle of it. Lot's of action as Bolan must protect the Mexican president from numerous assassination attempts. I really enjoyed James' and Encizo's rescue mission. I am looking forward to parts II and III when Able Team arrives along with the rest of Phoenix Force.